Name:
Kevin
Murphy
Address:
37660 Harvest LN
48164
United States
QSL via:
Bureau, Direct mail, eQsl, LOTW, QRZ
QSL manager:
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I became interested in Amateur radio in the early 70's. At night when I was supposed to be sleeping, I would tune up one of the Super Stations of the time in Charlotte, NC. I would listen and think of what people all the way down in North Carolina were doing right then. Most likely obeying their parents and sleeping.
While visiting my mothers uncle in Dayton I learned about his shack on the campus of University of Dayton. He invited me up to it. In order to get all the way up you had to take the elevator to the top floor and then walk up a flight of stairs to the roof. But it wasn't the roof, I never actually made it to the roof. Top of the stairs, past the gigantic elevator motors and cables to a small trailer like room at the top of another flight of stairs. This was his ham shack and let me tell you I was amazed by all of the lights and knobs and colorful cards proclaiming their senders callsign which covered the walls of his little room. He had a full Collins setup, I couldn't tell you which model but it was early 70's when I went there. I spend about two hours there watching him make contacts all over the world. With missionaries in the Kongo or in the jungles of the Amazon and I learned that I could talk to people in exotic places also.
That lit a spark which led to the building of a Heathkit shortwave reciever, the SW-717 I believe. I would spend long hours in the evenings scanning the bands with an old headset carrying the static and sounds of exotic locations to my ears. If I just got my license I could talk to the world.
Alas, that was put on hold though for a number of years. I finished school, joined the Air Force (comm/nav technician, 42851), got out, finshed college, started a career, met a girl, married the girl, and then when my life settled in I went to a Hamfest in Grayling, Michigan in September 2001, where I passed my Technician exam. In June of 2002 I took the Code exam and passed, also passing my General Exam at the same time. I became Amateur Extra in October of 2017 at an ARROW sponsored testing session.
In June of 2003, when I was still a General licensee, I was granted W8VOS, a vanity call. This was my great uncle's call through most of his life. He held Advanced and operated from the top of the Kennedy Union on the University of Dayton, in Ohio, where he was a Marianist Brother and head of the Mathmatics department. If you knew him and were wondering who the call went to, give me a call. I would be pleased to speak with someone who worked my great uncle.
I enjoy the homebrewing side of being a ham and have a few rigs which I built myself, either from a kit or from scratch. My first rig was a hombrew 2N2/40 designed by Jim Kortge, K8IQY which I built from scratch. It is set to max output of 2 Watts when the supply is at 13.8 volts.
My main rig is a Yaesu FTDX3000. I enjoy CW but operate mostly SSB while I strive for a DXCC award. It will come. Will just take time.
I have upgraded my antenna to a 5 band Mosley Mini 32 AW which my brother and another ham friend of mine constructed and put up earlier this summer, in July.